Disappearances by ’Eck

Puzzle explanation

The bar pattern divided the initial grid, shown here, into two regions: A (the top half) and B (the bottom half). The letters omitted from entries in the top half were a jumble of “Ferdinand”; those from the bottom half were a jumble of “Ariel, The Tempest”. The corrections to clue misprints for entries in the bottom half spelt out “in his third speech”, a reference to Ariel’s lines:

Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad and play’d
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me: the king’s son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring, — then like reeds, not hair, —
Was the first man that leap’d; cried, ‘Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.

Misprint corrections for the top half spelt out “alternating ditch, switch”, so the letters from the bottom half of the grid were alternately discarded or used to replace the contents of the corresponding cell in the top half. The result showed eight devils, symmetrically arranged: incubus, Eblis, Davy Jones, Mephisto, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Satan, Lucifer. The puzzle’s title refers to appearances from Dis, the underworld.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

Misprint Answer Explanation
Across
  ROCK BASS ROCK + BASS
  FELLAS FELLS around A
  FARADAY FAR + YADA (yada yada) <
dram(A) O’NEILL ONE ILL
(L)etters ALEPHS PH in ALES
S(T)iff STOOR ROOTS <
lous(E) NIT 2 meanings
Adve(R)t INSET IN + SET
fro(N)tier BANAT A in BANT
H(A)ppy TRA-LA ((visu)AL ART(s)) <
Cu(T)er’s TOOL POST TOOT around (L + SOP <)
ac(I)d NEALS (p)LANES’ *
  SENTINEL SENT + LINE *
i(N) ACT FOR (OF CART) *
  ANNULUS ANNUL + US
  BOOBYISH BOSH around (O + BY + I)
D(I) JANUS J + (f)AN(s) (m)US(t)
  GAME POINT (NO PIG MEAT) *
  TENCEL (r)ECENTL(y) *
  HEREAT RE in HEAT
pla(N)t TOYON TOY + ON
  TRAT TART <
  DEEPER (ÉPÉE in RD) <
  LEY LINE homophone of LAY + LINE
crus(H)ed NIBBED BIN < + BED
  IMBIBER I’M + B(lotto) in BIER
  SAVANT SANT around (V(isual) A(ids))
t(I)e SOUBISE (B + I) in SOUSE
Down
  INFANTAS (TANS NAIF) *
  ODAL ADO < + L
(G)reek CRETAN C + RE + TAN
(D)am’s BAH POOH-BAH − POOH
sa(I)d SESE SEE around S
(T)oper SOT (Le)SOT(ho)
  ENNOBLE (Sarac)EN NO BLE(mish)
(C)ancer LEO LE + O
nos(H) AL PASTO (ALAS OPT) *
(S)lop SLATTER STARLET *
(W)ear PILEI PILE + I
  RAN OFF NORA * + FF
F(I)rm IRON NORI <
pla(T)e NAAN NANA with second half reversed
  STILE homophone of STYLE
(C)ash TOEA (down-)TO-EA(rth)
s(H)ot PUT 2 meanings
A(S)ians AFGHANS HA in FANGS *
plan(T) NEMESIA (I SEE MAN) *
  INDEED DENIED *
(H)ockey UMP UMP(h)
(I)tem UNIT U(prising) + TIN <
c(R)op OATY (g)OAT + (da)Y
Informe(D) ON TO O + NOT *
pat(S)y BUNNY DUNNY with B(eef) for the first letter
(P)arts ILEA (G)I(r)L (v)E(g)A(n)
cur(E) SALTERS ALTER in SS
(E)ire VOTEEN TEE in VON
  SCRIBES S + CRIES around B
(C)ooking ORZO ZO after OR
  PEBA PE BA
  PEDS PS around ED
s(H)allow EBB BE < + B
  NEET homophone of NEAT
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